Early Mornings Are Not My Cup of Tea

I am so not a morning person. I'd much rather stay up until the sun rise, THEN go to bed. But, every so often, I am on the "morning shift" around here. Normally I'm blessed by a husband who is an early riser (which sadly also means early to bed- just the opposite of me- but perhaps that is actually a good thing). He normally does the morning routine around here. It consists of getting Jenna up and off to work (if she has work), getting Jessica up and off to school and then he would get himself off to work. Factor in feeding the cat and taking the dogs out to potty, it sounds like a pretty uneventful morning, right? But this is our household you are talking about. HA! Morning starts at 5 or 5:30 when Jenna has work (normal wake times for many of you, I totally understand that) or 6 or 6:30 when she doesn't. The dogs get taken out first, because by then they are crossing their legs. The cat gets fed because you can hear her mewing a mile away otherwise. Girls are encouraged to get up.... clothing is always a challenge for she who doesn't wear a uniform....(this is too tight, I don't like the color, I'm itchy, my socks don't match, my underwear feels funny, etc, etc, etc.) Breakfast is a chore in itself (I want toast! I want cereal! I want a bagel! What did you pack for my lunch? Can I have tuna? I want a muffin! I don't want a muffin! Oohhh what kind of muffin is that? Is it chocolate?! (Pointing to the dark chocolate colored muffin. No dear, I got up early and made mud muffins this morning, that's cousin's to mud pies, eat it, it's good for you!) Then you have to make sure the morning medications are taken (sometimes with a battle, sometimes not) oh, and no dear, you can not use your medicine cup to scoop up your muffin, no matter how much fun it is....

After all that, thank God the van is here for you to leave, bye, I love you!!!! At the same time, Jenna texts from work, I got here, I got a ride! Love you Mom! I sit with a heavy sigh and the cat comes over to sit while I type. I know I should go back to bed. It would make it easier for me to feel human by noon, but I'm kind of enjoying the quiet, hearing only the sound of my typing and the clock ticking...and the gentle breathing from the cat.